Both the Virginia Ham and the Old Dominion Chicken biscuits were teased at the April ballpark tour (and received the JDLand Taste Bud seal of approval), and there will also be mac-and-cheese, a housemade version of Cracker Jack called "Virginia Crunch," and a "Blue Ridge Bourbon and Tea" made with Filibuster Bourbon, peach schnapps (sold!), iced tea, and mint.

Also debuting on Tuesday will be the new home for the main team store, now located inside the gates in the ground floor of the eastern parking garage and nearly double the size of the old outlet facing N Street. No announcement yet as to what will be going into the old space, though it was said back in 2014 that the plan is "to convert the old space into a restaurant that fans will be able to enjoy throughout the year."

The Yankees will be the visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 19 and 20), followed by a weekend set with the Phillies, which also includes the second Pups in the Park on Saturday, May 23. There will also be tote bags for the first 25,000 fans on Tuesday, a 10th anniversary poster for the first 10,000 fans on Sunday, and a number of presentations and ceremonies honoring the military as part of this Memorial Day weekend series.

And as if that's not enough, the team and MLB are partnering with the American Academy of Dermatology on Friday, May 22 for the "Play Sun Smart" initiative that is promoting skin cancer awareness. (As a freckle-faced fair-skinned lass of Irish descent, I fully endorse this project.)

The entire lineup of activities, ceremonies, and giveaways is available here.

And, the Capitol Riverfront BID has put together this roundup of gameday restaurant specials outside the ballpark, in case you need additional sustenance before or after the game.

The one I know will be of most interest is above left, showing what the new skyline would look like just to the northeast of Nats Park as seen from home plate, where Lynch's planned residential project will be situated. (They seemed to have tried to go for some sort of tilt-shift look, so it's not your eyes or my image file that's blurry, it's the original.) At right is a sharper/snazzier view of the building as seen from ground-level at Half and N, with the glass-walled corner portion of the planned 60,000-plus square feet of retail space a definite focal point. The darker façade facing N Street delineates the planned condo portion of the project from the rental units (and possibly a hotel, or possibly not) around the corner on Half.

I wrote in detail about the plans for the site a few weeks ago, or you can check my Lynch Half project page for additional details.

Meanwhile, in other Ballpark District 2.0 news, I see an indication of forward progress on JBG's planned 290-unit residential project just north of the ballpark at 1244 South Capitol: an application was filed last week for a shoring/sheeting/excavation permit (got to dig down before you can build up!). The company has said they are looking to begin construction in late 2015 or early 2016.

It will be coming to the Boilermaker Shops, and will fill the last available retail space in that building, which opened in 2013. It will be the seventh Pacers location nationwide, and fifth in the DC area, and will join Unleashed, Hugh & Crye, GNC, and Wells Cleaners in the lineup of current non-food offerings in the rehabbed building.

* BIKE TO WORK DAY: The forecast looks swell for DC's annual Bike to Work Day, on Friday, May 15. Canal Park is one of the pit stops, from 7 to 9 am, at which there will be refreshments and food, plus you'll have a chance to win prizes if you have registered. (Looks like the free t-shirts are all already claimed, though.) Read about commuter convoys, ride buddies and more at the official web site.

* FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERTS: The Friday night Summer Concert Series at Yards Park kicks off this week, with the R&B stylings of Jimi Smooth. The concerts begin each week at 6:30 pm, and the Grassy Knoll fills up pretty quickly, so arrive early!

* OPERA IN THE OUTFIELD: Saturday is Cinderella Day at Nats Park, thanks to the the return of the annual Opera in the Outfield simulcast. Gates open at 5 pm, with a slew of pre-performance activities and entertainment, including a Royal Parade that will allow "kids of all ages" to arrive in costume and march around the lower concourse. The actual simulcast begins at 7 pm, and it's all Rain or Shine, and all free and open to the public. Note that sitting in the outfield now requires a wristband handed out on a first-come first-serve basis. More details here.

* GLUG GLUG GLUG: This most assuredly is not free, but Canal Park on Saturday will host "ABV," an afternoon of "outdoor imbibing" of the "finest craft beverages," put together by Greg Engert and friends. It will run from 3 to 8 pm, rain or shine, and tickets are $20 at the door or in special advance packages. The full list of beer, wine, and spirits to be available is here.

* FITNESS IN THE FRONT: Technically not a weekend event, but you may need to toss in a workout session or two after a big weekend--and just your luck, the lineup of outside summer fitness classes gets underway on Monday, May 19. Brought to you by VIDA Fitness and DC BFIT and located in Yards and Canal Parks, the classes range from Yoga to Zumba to "high energy" to Boot Camps to a once-a-month family fitness session. The schedule is here, and classes are free and open to the public.

* MARGARITA WARS: In case you didn't get your fill of drinking in a neighborhood park at ABV, City Paper's third annual Margarita Wars is slated for May 21 at 6:30 pm at the Yards Park. "You be the judge as the region's top mixologists compete for your vote in a winner take all battle for 'rita supremacy." Tickets are $25 and include unlimited margarita tastings. Also included: one of those extra-special tequila-fueled hangovers. (But you'll want to recover by May 30, when the Tour de Fat extravaganza returns to Yards Park.)

In addition, it was announced that "as soon as" today, "utility relocation work will start near the intersections of Virginia Avenue and 5th, 6th, 8th and 11th Streets, S.E." And indeed I spied work underway today at the corner of 8th and Virginia as well.

"Work will include surveying, pavement removal, trenching and other activities associated with utility relocations. Traffic lanes in these areas may be shifted and some parking spaces will be occupied. Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians should use caution when traveling through this area and be prepared to follow temporary traffic controls. This work is expected to continue through September."

Another item scheduled to happen Any Minute Now is the fencing of a significant portion of Virginia Avenue Park, on a line that will spare the community garden but will bring about the closure of the dog park. (I saw no evidence of any fence just now on the park's western end at 9th Street, but I can't confirm or deny any work elsewhere in the park at this moment.)

As stated in CSX's release on the matter: "Access to the portion of the park being fenced will be restricted through the duration of the tunnel project. CSX apologizes for any inconveniences that these restrictions may create. Access will be restored and enhancements will be made to the park at the completion of the tunnel-construction project. "

In other words, unless something happens with the lawsuit, this is the beginning of a many-months-long stretch of work just to the south of the freeway.

If you wish to pelt an official with questions about it all, you can join CSX assistant vice president Chuck Gullakson for "Coffee with Chuck" on May 20 from 7:30 to 9:30 am at the Courtyard by Marriott (RSVP here).

Allen will be highlighting "both the good and the bad" of Mayor Bowser's proposed FY16 budget, as well as talking through his own budget priorities. But beyond that, this event is being billed as an opportunity for residents "to ask your budget questions and share your own priorities" before the council starts voting on its possible changes to the mayor's budget.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm.

Sayeth the Post: "Last month, District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that rebuilding the 111-year-old tunnel is in the best interest of the public, and said that the Committee failed to establish grounds for a preliminary injunction."

The actual lawsuit, which "questions the legality and transparency of the project's federal environmental review process and says there were violations of federal and DC law," is still pending.

In the meantime, initial site work has supposedly now gotten underway at 2nd and 4th streets, though I have not witnessed this with my own eyes when I last looked on Monday evening. The official VirginiaAvenueTunnel.com web site is posting updates on items related to the project, should you wish more information.

And by the way, Committee of 100, I'm pretty sure that's a bad blow-up of one of my photos you are repeatedly using on your site, without permission or attribution. Your teams of lawyers should know better. (UPDATE, 5/7: I've received an apology from them, and they've taken down the photo, for which I thank them on both counts.)

(Of course, that lush green field just across New Jersey is architectural license, since we know that space is not now, nor has it likely ever been, a grassy expanse. Instead, this building will be facing the Park Chelsea and 800 New Jersey apartment buildings, as well as the Whole Foods scheduled to go in on the ground floor of the latter.)

It's now confirmed that the building will have about 5,500 square feet of ground-floor retail (making a certain someone so very excited!), and the new drawings give a clearer view of the ground-floor spaces.

UPDATE, 5/5: With word of a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site today, within which the site is referred to as being at 801 New Jersey, I am going to make an executive decision and dispense with the 82 I stuff going forward. So say hello to 801 New Jersey!

And that it would be at 385 Water St., SE.

Which is pretty cool news, except that right now there is no building with an address of 385 Water St., SE.

There were theories that it would be the first hint of retail leasing in the under-construction Arris, which is indeed in the 300 block of Water, but is on the north side of the street and so would have to be an even-numbered address.

The Lumber Shed is 301 Water--if all of the retail spaces in that building weren't spoken for, the notion of just a fat-fingering of the address could have been assumed.

But, 385 Water... Hmmm....

Many of you may not have been around back in 2009 when Forest City received approvals for its plans for Phase 2 of the Yards Park. This included approving the remaking of the Lumber Shed as a glass-enclosed retail pavilion--and also included the plans for two additional retail pavilions on what is now open lawn space between the Shed and 4th Street SE.

The drawings you see here are from 2009 and have actually been on my Yards Park and Lumber Shed pages since then--they show various views of all three pavilions, including a view from a deck on the easternmost pavilion looking toward the west with the Shed and other pavilion visible. (Click to embiggen.)

The larger, eastern pavilion, dubbed P2B (because this is Parcel P) would have a footprint of about 10,300 square feet, while the smaller middle one's footprint would be about 6,300 square feet. Each of them would be less than 40 feet high and would have "open roof terraces on the second story for outdoor dining." And, as the drawings show, they would have much the same glass-and-concrete look as the Lumber Shed does.

And it could certainly be possible that the larger eastern one could have an address of 385 Water Street. And it looks sizeable enough for a venture looking for 450 seats with capacity for 750, plus dancing.

Forest City, as always, makes no comment on tenant-related information when there is no signed lease. And so it's also interesting that District Winery (which City Paper says appears to be from the same folks behind the Brooklyn Winery in New York) has made the move to apply for a liquor license before any lease has been signed.

We Shall See on all of this, including what any potential timeline might be for the construction of one or both of these new pavilions, but at least it means there would appear to be some definite leasing interest for these spaces. Either that or I am terribly off base with all this pondering.

UPDATE: All that pondering, and I could have just read that yes, it is indeed a new building being planned."Plans are still in the early stages, putting an opening at least two years away[.]" (h/t @JES)

So of course rather than looking at acreage, or square feet of build-out, I just made a goofy map, based on my now Google'd Neighborhood Development Map.

The filled-in blocks are projects that are now completed or currently under construction. (And, with the exception of Van Ness Elementary, the Carroll Apartments, and that big brown Navy Yard block, all of them have been built or "adaptively reused" since 1999.)

The dark blue squares are projects that would seem to have a pretty good chance of getting underway within the next year or so, though of course I retain my hard-won skepticism of not truly believing a project timeline until I see shovels in the ground.

Finally, the red circles are the locations where buildings are planned but don't at the moment appear to be close to getting started.

The tally?

* 21 new buildings completed, plus the seven-block expanse of townhouses at Capitol Quarter;

* Three parks completed;

* One baseball stadium completed;

* 12 buildings currently under construction;

and

* 36ish buildings to go, with nine of them looking to potentially be getting underway by mid-2016.

That would appear to place things at somewhere around 50 percent complete, it would seem, while keeping in mind all manner of caveats about changing plans, poor counting decisions on my part, and more.

I wouldn't want to begin to attach a timeline to when every project will be completed, but I'd note that we are 16 years into the razing and rebuilding of Near Southeast, a time frame which included not only the Housing Bubble and the stadium-related Land Rush but both the post-9/11 recession and the Great Recession of 2008. So, one might reasonably ponder that there could be another 15 years to go, with some "pauses" built in.

I might need a new camera at some point.

UPDATE: Of course, within seconds of posting this, I realized I missed creating a circle for one in-the-future project, so that ups the count to 36. {pause} Or 37. I totally meant 37.

Instead, say hello to "Dock 79," now on Twitter at @Dock79DC.

It looks like there will be an official web site in the near future, but I don't think they are ready for company just yet.

Way (way!) back when, the project was christened "Riverfront on the Anacostia," so I admit to never quite being sure that the "Riverfront groundbreaking" was referring to the project or the building, but no one ever corrected any of posts here or in lots of other outlets using that name for this building.

But now we know.

And I now I must roam through my site to add the new name everywhere.

* ARRIS: Let's start with the now-topped-out Arris apartment building at the Yards. In addition to its having reached its final height, the masonry work on the five lowest floors of the eastern portion of the site is pretty far along, and windows have started appearing in the second floor.

While the three "pavilions" on the western side (not seen real well in this shot, but check the rendering) will be brick-faced all the way up their eight floors, the east tower's upper façade will be all glass, with an undulation that's obvious even with just the concrete in place.

This building will have 325 rental units and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and is expected to open in early 2016.

* PARK CHELSEA: It certainly won't win the prize as Speediest Construction Project Ever, and the countdown to the start of leasing has changed its target from July 1 to September 15, but work on the 430ish-unit rental building on New Jersey Avenue does continue. You may have seen the forms with the planets-and-the-stars design that have now been hoisted up to their final perches on the roof--I've been told this is based on Johannes Kepler's "star polygon tessellations," which I concede is way too much education for JDLand to normally pass along.

* LOFTS AT CAPITOL QUARTER AND CAPPER COMMUNITY CENTER: They may not be tall, but they are wide--as is my lens, thankfully. If you are wondering about the concrete portion on the western end of the Loft's construction, that's parking for residents of the building's 195 mixed-income units. The two projects, both along L Street between 5th and 7th, should be completed in 2016.

* THE BRIG: I certainly could have used a drink after the 11 miles of walking I did in two passes on Sunday to properly update my photo archive, but while work on the beer garden at 8th and L to be known as The Brig continues, it still has a ways to go before it begins quenching thirsts. But it's interesting to now start to see the outline of its contribution to the "skyline" along 8th.

The links above have lots more information on each project, of course. And I skipped the Hampton Inn in the roundup, but I wouldn't want it to feel left out.

While I'm pretty sure this wasn't on my childhood list of aspirations, I'll still present to you the latest JDLand State of the Dirt report.

From oldest hole to newest hole, we have residential projects 800 New Jersey/Whole Foods*, Florida Rock/Riverfront, 1111 New Jersey/Galley at Capitol Riverfront, 909 Half, and 82 I, then the Homewood Suites at 50 M, and finally the F1rst/First residential and Residence Inn combo.

* If you are wondering about the new one-story structure at the far left of the above photo that has popped alongside the Park Chelsea and the 800 NJ excavation, which you can, it is the "covered vehicle court" that will serve the garage and loading docks for these two projects and the eventual third building on the block.

(Click to enlarge, as always)

If you wish for more context with any of these photos, follow the links up top to go to the project pages.

Also now appearing on Half Street (below left) is a spiffy logo for Due South, the restaurant coming this year to the Lumber Shed at the Yards. (The restaurant is a Bo Blair enterprise, as is the Fairgrounds, hence the cooperative crossover deal.) And, one block to the east (below right), it didn't take long for Grosvenor to make its F1rst presence known.

(Yes, I finally went out and took pictures. Be prepared for the coming onslaught.)

* Traffic lanes on 4th Street SE between the westbound lanes of Virginia Avenue and I Street will "temporarily shift to accommodate utility relocation work." The work will happen between 7 am and 7 pm on weekdays only and is expected to last about two months. "Some parking spaces will be temporarily occupied during the work period to accommodate lane shifts."

* There will also be utility relocation work under the Southeast Freeway in the "ad hoc recreation area," that little pass-through popular with the skateboard kidz where you can walk from 2nd Street under the overpass and into Garfield Park. "Access to the area will be limited during construction hours and visitors are encouraged to be cautious when traveling near the area." There's also the note that in the coming weeks "this work will extend into the intersection of 2nd Street S.E. and Virginia Avenue."

If you wish to discuss any of this with CSX, there will be an open house on April 23 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 140 L St. SE. There's also expanded hours at the CSX community office on New Jersey Avenue: it's now open from 7 am to noon Mondays and Wednesdays and noon to 8 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also contact them by e-mail, phone, or web.

I wrote a few months ago about the initial construction plans, under which "utility relocation" qualifies.

The eastern side of the building, along 4th, is 11 stories high, while the three western wings reached eight stories a few weeks ago. When finished, Arris will have 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and "some of the best waterfront views in the city."

It's now being said that the project will be "substantially complete" in early 2016.

An initial web site where you can sign up for information on leasing is at LiveArris.com.

Forest City tells me that work on the facade will continue through the next few months, with the expectation that the building will be completely enclosed by the end of the summer.

Also nestled into the press release about Arris is the statement that sometime this summer "development will begin on a 50-slip public marina as the newest addition to Yards Park," with completion expected by the end of the year.

(I was planning to get updated photos this weekend, so dang it, no up-to-the-second shots available. But you can see what it was looking like in late March.)

Back in February, Akridge sold the southern two-thirds of the block-long lot to JBG, and at the time it was said that the company was also "under contract to recapitalize the northern third of Half Street." It turns out that that "recapitalization" was a sale to an affiliate of Brandywine Realty Trust for $20 million, according to WBJ.

Akridge's arrival on this lot began back in 2007 when the company won a WMATA bidding process for what was then the Southeastern Bus Garage site. But Monument Realty, expecting to have the rights to develop the site, was quite unhappy, and sued, which resulted in the settlement that awarded the bus garage site to Akridge for $46.5 million and the adjacent Metro parking lot across Van to Monument for $22.6 million. Monument then sold its holdings on the south end of the bus garage block to Akridge for $9.66 million.

The company got zoning approvals in early 2009 for its Half Street plans, as a 700,000-square-foot mix of two office buildings, one residential building, and 56,000 square feet of retail. But, of course, none of that ever happened, and in the meantime Akridge provided the space for first The Bullpen, then Das Bullpen, then the block-long Fairgrounds site.

Now we wait to see what the plans for the north end will be, now that JBG has said it will be building two residential offerings on its portion near the ballpark.

(And I know the web site response is atrocious this morning. Guess I'm going to have to stop just wishing it will get better, though the support people tell me that a lot of this is supposedly now the fault of another site on the same server, which has two more days to clean up its act or else it'll be shut down. We Shall See.)

For those lucky readers who have not been traveling on this path since it began in 2010 (!), the Marines are desperately wishing to move out of the antiquated and not-removed-enough-from-the-streets Building 20 at 8th and I streets, SE. (No, not the historic buildings that run along 8th Street where the Friday night parades are held--this is that lovely midcentury modern monolith on the south side of I Street.)

After the initial round of public workshops failed to magically come up with a solution that met the requirement that any new barracks be within 2,000 feet of the main post, an Environmental Impact Study was announced in 2012 and launched in the fall of 2013 (during my hiatus, so apologies for the hole in my reporting).

This draft EIS identifies five alternatives that meet the requirements that include constructing a 191,405 sf Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) complex that complies with anti-terrorism/force protection setbacks as well as finding spaces for various support facilities currently housed in Building 20. But, in an unusual situation for a draft EIS, no "preferred alternative" has been identified--the Marines apparently don't have a (publicly stated) preference, and "each of the action alternatives involve trade-offs among economig, technical, environmental, and Marine Corps statutory requirements."

As for the five alternatives, they include:

* (Left) Taking 3 acres of privately held land on the two blocks bounded by Virginia, 8th, 9th, and Potomac, which would include acquiring 24 privately held properties, demolishing 14 buildings, and closing a one-block stretch of L Street, to build a five-story building with underground parking;

* (Left center) Taking two acres of former Southeast Federal Center land within the footprint of The Yards immediately to the west of Hull Street and the Navy Yard to build an eight-story building with an attached above-ground garage, a move that would necessitate an agreement with both Forest City and the GSA to transfer the land to the Marines and which apparently has already engendered Forest City's "formal opposition" (page 2-21);

* (Right center) Taking 1.67 acres within the walls of the Navy Yard, just south of M Street between 9th/Parsons and 10th, to build a 5- or 6-story building, while demolishing a building currently used by the Marines (Building 169) as well as tennis and basketball courts and a parking lot; and

* (Right) Using .89 acres nestled between the existing BEQ site at 7th and K and its lovely above-ground parking garage on L Street to build a 6- or 7-story building that would wrap around the existing Building 25, while still keeping the footprint of the large soccer/marching band field untouched. Parking would be in the existing underground garage at the old Building 20 site for both this alternative and the Navy Yard one.

(Why am I only mentioning four of the five? Because the Alternative B site is now newly spoken for, though I guess if the Marines really really want it....)

I am of course just scratching the surface of the 300-page document. If you want to learn more, and/or want to provide comments on any of these plans, there is going to be an open house public meeting on Wednesday, April 22, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Tyler Elementary School (1001 G St., SE). Comments can also be submitted until May 26, either through the mail or the EIS web site.

This location will apparently replace the WHS facilities on both New York Avenue NE and Georgia Avenue NW.

But this won't be the agency's only presence on the block: it already operates its spay and neuter clinic in a building at 10th and L adjacent to this Exxon lot.

I had hoped to include more details on the plans for the site, but this post couldn't wait any longer, thanks to the newly released Draft EIS for the Marine Barracks hunt, in which this 36,500-acre lot was identified as one of five possible sites for the new barracks. {Cut to Barracks hunters despondently crossing yet another potential location off their list. Or not.}

This site, officially located at 1022 M St., SE, has been vacant since the Exxon closed and was demolished in 2008, except for a brief residence by a chair.

More to come on the Humane Society plans.

* RAMP CLOSURE SATURDAY: The ramp from M Street at 11th to the outbound 11th Street freeway bridge will be closed for "pavement striping modifications" on Saturday, April 11, from 7 am until 5 pm. The local bridge will be the detour. (DDOT)

* NO HOLIDAY FOR METERS: If you are thinking that you can park for free in metered street spaces near Nats Park on game days that fall on Sundays and holidays, you would be wrong. (DDOT)

* DOUGLASS BRIDGE $$$: Mayor Bowser's proposed FY16 budget includes $512.7 million for the new Douglass Bridge. (WBJ)

* BEST BAR BLUEJACKET: Esquire's "Best Bars in America" visited Bluejacket, among other spots, calling it the "Willy Wonka of beer breweries." (HillNow)

* FAIRGROUNDS LAMENT: "The Fairgrounds is a dying breed of the Nats fan experience." (WaPo)

* BREAKING ICE CREAM NEWS: Ice Cream Jubilee has added "Chocolate Matzo Crack," "Fig, Port, & Goat Cheese," and "Cherries Jubilee" as springtime flavors. And milkshakes!